Friday 10th March 2006
To combat the increased sophistication of identity fraud, the UK Passport Service as part of the strengthening of its identity authentication arrangements, from 10 March will check the information provided by adult first-time applicants against data held by public and private sector organisations. As noted in our privacy policy we will only use data from these sources to authenticate an applicant’s identity. We will not make enquiries about an applicant’s business with these organisations and will not record details of any information they hold. Applicants may be asked to provide additional information and documentation to support the authentication of their identity history.
This social/biographical footprint approach to checking identity was developed in response to the recommendation in the 2002 Cabinet Office report on identity fraud, and will help maintain the integrity of the UK passport issuance process.
